CAT/C/IRQ/CO/1 taking measures for an immediate moratorium on executions and a commutation of sentences. Impunity for acts of torture and ill-treatment 21. The Committee is concerned at reports indicating that complaints of torture and illtreatment are rarely investigated, which creates a climate of impunity. In view of these reports, the Committee is concerned by the fact that, despite the Committee’s questions, the State party has not furnished specific information on the number of complaints of torture or ill-treatment or on any corresponding investigations and prosecutions during the reporting period. It has also provided no information about the sentences and criminal or disciplinary sanctions imposed on offenders, nor has it indicated whether or not the alleged perpetrators of these acts were removed from public service pending the outcome of the investigation of the complaint. In the absence of this information, the Committee finds itself unable to assess the State party’s actions in the light of the provisions of article 12 of the Convention (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure that all complaints of torture or ill-treatment are promptly investigated in an impartial manner by an independent body, that there is no institutional or hierarchical relationship between that body’s investigators and suspected perpetrators of such acts, and that the suspected perpetrators are duly tried and, if found guilty, are punished in a manner that is commensurate with the gravity of their acts; (b) Ensure that the authorities launch investigations on their own initiative whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture or illtreatment has been committed; (c) Ensure that alleged perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment are immediately suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation, particularly when there is a risk that they might otherwise be in a position to repeat the alleged act, to commit reprisals against the alleged victim or to obstruct the investigation. Coerced confessions 22. While taking note of the legal safeguards enshrined in the Iraqi legislation establishing the inadmissibility of evidence obtained through torture or other ill-treatment, the Committee is concerned that, in practice, the admissibility of material obtained by torture is unduly onerous on the defendant. In that respect, it is reported that defendants rarely have medical reports to substantiate their claims, as they are denied access to doctors while in police custody. The Committee remains concerned about the apparent failure to investigate those allegations, and the lack of information available on decisions taken by the Iraqi courts to refuse confessions obtained under torture as evidence. Finally, there was no information provided on sanctions on judges being held accountable for failing to prosecute cases of torture (art. 15). The State party must adopt effective measures to guarantee that coerced confessions or statements are inadmissible in practice, except when invoked against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made. Thus, the Committee calls on the State party to ensure that where there is an allegation that a statement was made under torture, the burden of the proof is on the prosecution and the courts. The State party should also ensure that law enforcement officials, judges and lawyers receive training on how to detect and investigate cases in which confessions are obtained under torture. The competent authorities should take sanctions against 6